Page 108 of Eruption

“I want to tell you again how sorry I am about the casualties,” Rivers said, his words clipped.

Casualties—the language of war. But he can’t help himself.“I know you are, sir,” Mac said.

“You were right,” Rivers said. “They were brave.”

Then he said, “Another layer of titanium can’t possibly hurt.”

“Agreed,” Mac said. “And who knows? It might make all the difference in the end. We should definitely go for it.”

Mac pointed in the general direction of Mauna Loa as more soldiers and more townspeople appeared above them and began unloading the titanium.

“It’s twenty miles, give or take, from here to there,” Mac said. “If our diversion works, we won’t need to shield the cave any more than we already have. And if it doesn’t?” Mac shrugged. “We just have to hope that what you call our side-walling buys us time until the lava flames itself out.”

They heard what sounded like gunfire from where the first dike was being built, on another part of the mountain.

A minute later a soldier came running up, waving his phone at General Rivers.

“There’s trouble, sir,” the young guy said.

“Were those shots I just heard?” Rivers asked.

“Warning shots, sir,” the soldier said. “Because of the protesters.”

“Protesting what, for fuck’s sake?” Rivers yelled.

“Somehow they found out we’ve been digging up some of their burial sites.”

“I have to take care of this,” Rivers said to Mac.

Mac nodded. “You’re way better at crowd control than I am. I’ve got a few things to do myself.”

Rivers ran down to his jeep, got behind the wheel, and sped off.

Mac was behind the wheel of his own jeep when he got the call from Lono.

“I need to see you bad, Mac man,” the boy said.

“Where?”

“Meet me at our beach.”

Mac drove even faster than usual.

CHAPTER 80

Honoli‘i Beach Park, Hilo, Hawai‘i

Tuesday, April 29, 2025

Mac got to the beach first. He parked his jeep where he always had in much better times than these, grabbed his gear, and made his way down toward the water. When he felt the sand underneath his feet, he felt, for a moment, as if he were home.

He used to come down here on Akua, the one night in every month when the moon was at its fullest and biggest and brightest and appeared even rounder than usual, the waves dancing in its amazing light, as if the dawn had arrived early.

Tonight, there was just a crescent moon. Mac stood in the sand and took it all in and thought how perfect the world looked from here. The only sounds were the lapping of the waves in front of him and the occasional call of a nightbird. He felt like the last man on earth.

This is what we’re trying to save,he thought.What wehaveto save.

Beauty like this was as much a force of the natural world as the volcano; it took the breath out of him.

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